Called to Plan: Changing Patterns and Perceptions of Retirement for Australian and New Zealand Faith-Based Ministers

The rising tide of aging citizens globally suggests a compelling argument for increasing understanding of factors impacting retirement. Factors such as health and finance have been identified as principal, but these results generally apply to homogenous groups with little reference to the impact of culture and tradition. This study adopted an ex post-facto, cross-sectional, self-reporting survey from working faith-based ministers in Australia and New Zealand to ascertain personal and professional factors affecting retirement perception in specific context including results for age-related differences. Results from four areas of foci show participants generally regarded retirement as a positive season. They were, however, less confident about their preparedness and mostly dissatisfied with the level of planning for retirement. Significant differences were noted in age-related groups with health and financial considerations constituting the primary differences. Increased understanding of changing patterns and perceptions for specific groups including age differences, potentially aids the response of state and society to the ageing phenomenon.